{recipe} tuna tapenade

Yesterday, I made Tuna Tapenade from Barefoot Contessa's How easy is that? It's my new favorite cookbook. You are supposed to put the tapenade on crostini (yum!) but I made salad with it since I'm counting points.

As opposed to 'regular' tuna salad (tuna + mayo + pickles), this recipe has deep rich flavors. It's what happens when tuna salad grows up and becomes a sophisticated adult. In particular, it was the thyme, lemon zest, and kalamata olives that gave it its flavor.

The recipe asks you to pulse everything in a food processor, but I just mixed the ingredients with a fork.

Added to romaine lettuce and radishes... a lovely, healthy meal.

returning to the mother ship



image via flickr


I have returned to the mother ship...Weight Watchers. I have tried going it on my own, and had some success. Unfortunately, after an extended period of time, I tend to become despondent and tired of the slow success. "What's the point?" settles in to my overall attitude, and before I know it, I'm back where I started.

I also had a couple attempts at eating the French Skinny way. In a nutshell: eating anything you want, but only a few bites of it. Sitting down to eat, never eating on the run, and savoring every bite. Paying attention to your body signals and only eating when you are truly hungry. Admittedly, I had great (fast!) success with FS, but I couldn't stick with the FS mentality. See, if I want to eat ahi, tomato/mozzarella salad, and garlic bread, I want to eat more than just a few bites of it. I don't mean that I want to gorge myself; I just mean that I want to sit down to a true meal. Overall, I think I'm just too Type A for the French Skinny. I tried to fight it, but I'm naturally inclined to measuring, charting, recording...

And so, Weight Watchers is my girl. She has helped me lose the weight before, and she'll help me again. Now I just have to get used to the new 'Points Plus' program.

By the way, week one:  -3.2 lbs.  (yay!)

graceful creative {what it means}

Graceful Creative is my style statement. It's who I am, at my best.

Graceful
Greek mythology tells of sister goddesses of joy, charm, and beauty called the three Graces.Graceful is poised and dignified and, at her best, is a giving, generous spirit who seeks to impart kindness and dignity. Love is her fuel; goodwill is her motivation and guide. Graceful prefers meaning and substance but will practice courtesy and compassion rather than forcing her views about a situation. Graceful has a sense of fit and propriety, a craving for balance and good form and proportion. She adores harmony and material and immaterial--from finery to leisure. Rooted in feminine power, Graceful has a quiet and steady confidence. She endeavors to make everything special in the most considerate and ultimately charming ways, and tends to make it all effortless.

Look & Feel: Adroitness, agility, allure, attractiveness, balance, beauty, cleanliness, ease, elegance. The proper fit and hang. Flow, warmth, comfort, harmony. Shapliness, smoothness, style, suppleness, symmetry.


Creative
aesthetic, artistic, clever, cool, crafty, cultivated, cultured, dramatic, elegant, exquisite, fertile, formative, gifted, graceful, grand, harmonious, hip, ideal, imaginative, ingenious, innovative, inspired, inventive, musical, original, ornamental, pictorial, picturesque, pleasing, poetic, productive, prolific, refined, rhythmical, satisfying, sensitive, skillful, stimulating, stylish, sublime, talented, tasteful, visionary.